Readers relate experiences with TSA including taking off shoes, setting off alarms

October 30, 2013|Lauren Ritchie, COMMENTARY

The Transportation Security Administration — you either love 'em or hate 'em.

A recent column about going through security screening at airports with my 87-year-old father, a World War II combat vet who has his own way of doing things, prompted stories from readers about their own experiences.

This slightly stooped older gent with his belt cinched tight to hold up his drawers gets the full pat-down experience every single time because he doesn't want to turn over his wallet to anyone. This has become a trip in more ways than one.

Here's a sample of what other folks have to say about the TSA:

Before I lost my mom, when she was 90, she had neuropathy, which made her unable to walk. She was pushed in and out of airplanes in a wheelchair. Yes, you guessed it. The TSA officers would tell her to take off her shoes.

She would tell them, "Go ahead, take them off. But you will have to put them back on because I can't."

Sissie Zollinger

Leesburg

The whole TSA program is a disaster. I am 58 and because of cancer I don't want to go through the scanners. Every time I tell them I am not going through that thing, they look at me like I am causing them so much inconvenience.

When they ask me, "Do you have anything sharp on you?" I sometimes reply, "Just my wit."

The money the government spends on TSA is just for the illusion of safety.

Bill Webb

Naperville, Ill.

My late husband, Wally, almost 70 at the time, was stopped by airport security. The search for an offending item was quickly narrowed down to his wallet. He, of course, was annoyed by the stop-and-search.

However, I was quite impressed that the security system had keyed in on a small piece of aluminum foil folded over two emergency aspirins he kept on hand for headaches.

"Foiled again," I told him. He was not amused.

Jimmie Jo Hixon

Umatilla

The lines and inspections are a bit trying at times, but I am glad they inspect everything. Why? Because of all the crazy people who are wandering around.

I have never gotten through an Orlando inspection without setting off alarms. In addition, I have been patted down twice and once had my hands inspected for explosives. I figure they have their X-ray machine turned to the highest level so even the iron in vitamin pill I swallowed in the morning was deemed a threat to national security.

In Tokyo once, a dog sat down beside me and I was very politely invited to a back room. A pleasant young man asked where I had just come from (Vietnam) and found my prescription pills. He apologized profusely and asked me to take care of my health. You will never find a more polite security inspection than in Japan.

In Turkey, I thought I was going to prison because I had a souvenir letter opener in my carry-on. Half a dozen officials came to inspect and confer, and I had to put the ornate and very dull-bladed replica of the sultan's dagger in my checked bag.

Inspectors in Guatemala went through my suitcase and removed some souvenir items, like the souvenir slingshot I bought for a young Latino friend, at his request. I also had an ancient stone-age ax, for which I had permission from the office for protection of antiquities. The ax was OK with the officers.

In Colombia, two beautiful models looked through my suitcase. In the Bahamas, it was, "Don't worry — be happy."

Lost in Rome this summer, I wandered into the Vatican and decided to enter the church through a metal detector. A sign indicated knives were forbidden, and I knew I had a penknife in my backpack, but the metal detector apparently was sleeping.

Traveling by ship to Russia, Norway Estonia, Denmark, Sweden and Germany the inspections were minimal. The ship's security was very forgiving, as well.

People like my wife, who has a titanium rod in her leg, are a lost cause in Orlando, though not in foreign countries. Here she will be invited to a private room for a special inspection — letter or no letter from her surgeon.

Whenever I can, I thank the inspection people for protecting us.

George Cooke

Tavares

Lritchie@tribune.com. Lauren invites you to send her a friend request on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/laurenonlake.